Q&A: Planning Applications and Data Centres
17 Mar 2026
Friends of the Earth has produced this Q&A to help local communities consider the planning and environmental impacts of applications in their local areas.
Sewage is a dirty word. Regulation isn't.
Paul de Zylva11 Mar 2026
The sewage pollution scandal shows the dangers of deregulation and weakening standards. Paul de Zylva asks how present ministers can make up for past failures and reboot regulation for good.
Is flooding in England getting worse?
Mike Childs25 Feb 2026
New research identifies the areas in England most at risk from flooding and what we can do to manage flood risk.
Fact check: British farming and renewables
Sandra Bell19 Feb 2026
Friends of the Earth's Sandra Bell makes clear: climate change threatens British food security, not solar farms. Using under 1% of UK farmland, renewables leave room for both energy and agriculture. Agrivoltaics let crops thrive under panels and wind farms can diversify farm incomes. The countryside needs renewables, not a retreat from climate action.
Fact check: the reliability of renewable energy
Sandra Bell03 Feb 2026
Friends of the Earth’s Sandra Bell addresses claims that the UK must drill more North Sea gas and pursue fracking due to limits on renewable energy, showing how renewables can reduce exposure to gas price shocks and ease cost-of-living pressures.
Fact check: Why are our energy bills so high?
Sandra Bell03 Feb 2026
Friends of the Earth’s Sandra Bell examines claims that support for renewable energy is to blame for the UK’s high energy bills, and sets out the evidence showing how renewables help cut costs and reduce cost-of-living pressures.
Fact check: the real cost of net zero
Sandra Bell03 Feb 2026
Friends of the Earth's Sandra Bell analyses disinformation about the cost of net zero transitions and challenges claims that scrapping climate action will save billions.
Fact check: why climate policies aren't a war on drivers
Sandra Bell28 Jan 2026
Friends of the Earth’s Sandra Bell examines claims that restrictions on petrol cars and the transition to electric vehicles amount to a ‘war on drivers’, and sets out the evidence showing why scrapping these policies would not save money.
Fact check: Why it’s wrong to ignore climate science
Sandra Bell14 Jan 2026
Friends of the Earth’s Sandra Bell addresses disinformation claiming that climate change and extreme weather aren’t caused by human carbon emissions, presenting the evidence that climate change is real, human-driven, and already impacting those least responsible.
Challenging climate disinformation
Sandra Bell14 Jan 2026
In a series of fact-checking articles, Sandra Bell considers the evidence and challenges widespread disinformation about climate breakdown.
Three things the government must do to end the peat scandal
Paul de Zylva12 Nov 2025
If the government wants to restore depleted nature in the UK and reduce risks from climate breakdown, it must show a clean pair of hands on peat.
Why air pollution is an environmental justice issue
06 Nov 2025
Find out which neighbourhoods in England and Wales have the highest levels of dirty air and how its impacts are unfairly distributed across society.
Is the government’s new climate plan fit for purpose?
Mike Childs30 Oct 2025
The government has just produced a new climate plan which it was legally obliged to do following the High Court ruling that the previous climate plan, produced under the previous government, was not fit for purpose. Friends of the Earth experts have rapidly delved into the details of the new climate plan to provide an assessment of whether this plan is a significant improvement or not.
Data centres - are our heads in the cloud?
Mary Stevens26 Oct 2025
Why the government urgently needs to rethink its approach to data centres and AI infrastructure.
Nature and climate crises – why English devolution is falling short
Sandra Bell30 Sep 2025
How English devolution fails to give regional authorities the power to address climate and nature breakdown and why we’re advocating an amendment to the new Bill.